Pro Se Vs. Hire a Lawyer

[OnTheRocks]

I will be filing Pro Se due to costs and time, and mine being a simple no asset case. Just a few simple questions regarding filling in the "Claims" forms please.

What do I put in for "Husband, Wife, Joint, or Community"? I am single.

"Date Claim Was Incurred"? All are credit cards and a Dell acct.

What are the columns for "Contingent", "Unliquidated", and "Disputed" for?

"Amount of Claim"? Seems obvious, the debt outstanding day I file.

Should Dell be listed as a secured creditor?

Thank You
On The Rocks

[MSbklawyer]

i agree that officially an attorney cannot pick the trustee. However, an attorney has a lot of experience with how the random system picks the trustee and can probably figure out the best time to file a petition to maximize the chances of getting a particular trustee.

I wish I had big-city problems like that. We have one whole trustee in this division of the district. Well, two actually. One for 7s. One for 13s. And they have enough time left over after being trustee to have a regular law practice.

[aljohnson007]

Just one more comment re trustees. In the time block for my 341, the same attorney had five cases in a row, mine being the last. She never even got up from her seat between cases I don't think that was just how it happened to be scheduled.

[justbroke]

I went to three bk attorneys and none had the answers to my question regarding TBE. All stated they wouldn't advise that approach.

That's odd, because, as you learned, there is pretty good caselaw in Florida on tenancy by the entireties (TBEs) as an exemption. Even my Judge has ruled in favor of honoring TBEs... so long as the title to the property is so recorded. It is well established Florida non-bankruptcy law as well. Guess those lawyers didn't want to get into a tussle with the U.S. Trustee, who seems to challenge them.

[aljohnson007]

I went to three bk attorneys and none had the answers to my question regarding TBE. All stated they wouldn't advise that approach. So, I continued my research, including many hours on this forum, and decided it was in my best interest to file pro se. I have had no problems with my filing including TBE exemptions for everything. My case was selected for audit by the UST but they found no material misstatements and the flag was removed yesterday. I expect discharge on 9/15. The above notwithstanding, every case is different and each must decide on their own. Filing pro se is time consuming and difficult, especially if you have asset issues. I don't make a recommendation either way, just stating my experience and non-legal opinion. I wish you the best in whatever you decide to do.

[music12]

i agree that officially an attorney cannot pick the trustee. However, an attorney has a lot of experience with how the random system picks the trustee and can probably figure out the best time to file a petition to maximize the chances of getting a particular trustee.

[AngelinaCat]

A good Attorney can cherry pick the right Trustee, and creditors are infinitely less likely to screw with you.

I have to disagree with this statement. The selection process for Trustees is 'random draw'. Whoever has the lightest case-load, or is 'next-in-line' in the rotation process, is who you will get. The attorney has no say in the matter.

Now having said that, it is known that all the attorneys and trustees in a particular district know each other. Depending on how the attorneys and trustees get along with each other, and how well the attorney 'gets along' with your trustee *can* have an influence on your case.

Whether you end up hiring an attorney or going pro se, you will best serve your case by becoming as educated as possible in the entire process.

Good luck to you in whatever you decide.

[justbroke]

I mostly filed pro se because of timing, but it was partially the money required.

[67caprice427]

I went pro-se because I couldn't afford the attorney. I studied nolo ch7 religiously along with a couple of other books, lurked out here for months(lol), lucked out in attending a free legal aid clinic to answer the final few questions that I couldn't find an answer to. I'm very hands on, and determined that in my case, there really wasn't anything an attorney could do, that I couldn't do myself. I had a GREAT trustee and actually received multiple compliments from him regarding my accuracy and mistake free case. I took it to heart, where in the nolo book, they said to be ridiculously thorough...

[debtmonster]

Yep. I agree with the above posts. Even if I could save the money, I am SO GLAD I paid for my lawyer. He was worth every penny.

So can the lawyer pick the trustee or is the trustee automatically assigned at random based on their case load?

It seems like our paralegal was buddy-buddy with our UST. Everything was super smooth sailing.

I would never want to do battle with with a fighting creditor.

[jessica0607]

I agree - when my wife filed pro se, we had a creditor challenge a small cash advance that was approx 5 months in arrears. Once she retained an attorney to complete the process, the discharge went smooth.

[music12]

if you have an especially nasty creditor, i'd go with a lawyer. the lawyer puts distance between you and creditors and thereby relieve stress by a lot. it also could discourage creditors from challenging you.

[bkmaggster]

I liked being in total control of the process. My case was super simple, under median, no asset, though. And I was too broke to hire a lawyer even if I wanted one.

[debtprison]

I've often wondered the same thing. I went Pro Se when I did my C7 five years ago. I didn't have many problems at all with it and I used forums and the NOLO book to find out what to put on schedules. I am more of the Do-it-yourself type though and am not considered (believe it or not!) to be a moron.

The only thing I missed was that IRS back taxes were potentially dischargeable. Had I of waited a year I could have discharged an additional $10,000 in taxes!

OTOH, like you I see all these people with bad or uncaring lawyers and I tend to think that I would be better off just doing it myself. I guess if I were you I would look around and hire someone else. I expect attorneys to get back to me no latter than the next business day. Without that what good are they to me really?

[CCsAreEvil]

I agree. My lawyer fees were probably 1-2% of my overall debt load.. from a financial point of view, that's amazing.

The best reasons for me for obtaining a "real" BK lawyer:

(1) this is what they do for a living
(2) they know the set of USTs and pick the "nice" ones (they apparently did this in my case)
(3) nice to have someone on your side at the 341 meeting in case issues come up

I've read a lot of people do it pro se, but I'm just not that "confident" and "brave".